GR No.

200299, August 17, 2016

Spouses Juan Chuy Tan and Mary Tan (Petitioners) v China Banking Corp. (Respondent)
Third Division
Ponente: Perez, J.

Nature of Action: Action for collection of sum of money.

FACTS:
Petitioner Lorenze Realty and Development Corporation represented in this action by petitioners
Joel Tan and Eric Tan as substitutes for their deceased parents, Spouses Juan Chuy Tan and Mary Tan. On
several occasions in 1997, Lorenze Realty obtained from China Bank various amounts of loans and credit
accommodations. As a security for the said obligations, Lorenze Realty executed Real Estate Mortgages
(REM) over 11 parcels of land. Subsequently, Lorenze Realty incurred in default in the payment of its
amortization prompting China Bank to cause the extra-judicial foreclosure of the REM constituted on the
securities and subsequently sold the mortgaged properties at a public auction. After deducting from the
total amount of loan obligation the proceeds of the public sale, there remains a balance in the amount of
P29,258,179.81. It demanded from Lorenze Realty for the payment of the remaining balance but such
demand just went to naught. Consequently, China Bank initiated an action for the collection of sum of
money against the Lorenze Realty and its officers. Petitioner claimed that they were made to believe by
the bank manager that the collaterals were enough for the payment of the loan should they incur in default
in their payment thus, their obligation is fully satisfied by the foreclosure of the subject properties. The
RTC ruled in favor of China Bank and ordered petitioner to pay the deficiency balance. On appeal, the
CA affirmed with modification the judgment of the RTC by reducing the rate of the penalty surcharge.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the obligation was extinguished upon foreclosure and sale of the collateral in a
contract of loan.

RULING:
No. Nowhere in our statutes and jurisprudence do they provide that the sale of the collaterals
constituted as security of the obligation results in the extinguishment of the obligation.

Obligations are extinguished, among others, by payment or performance, the mode most relevant
to the factual situation in the present case. Under Article 1232 of the Civil Code, payment means not only
the delivery of money but also the performance, in any other manner, of an obligation. Article 1233 of the
Civil Code states that a debt shall not be understood to have been paid unless the thing or service in which
the obligation consists has been completely delivered or rendered, as the case may be. In contracts of
loan, the debtor is expected to deliver the sum of money due the creditor. These provisions must be read
in relation with the other rules on payment under the Civil Code, such as the application of payment, to
wit:

Art. 1252. He who has various debts of the same kind in favor of one and the same creditor, may
declare at the time of making the payment, to which of them the same must be applied. Unless the
parties so stipulate, or when the application of payment is made by the party for whose benefit the
term has been constituted, application shall not be made as to debts which are not yet due. If the
debtor accepts from the creditor a receipt in which an application of the payment is made, the
former cannot complain of the same, unless there is a cause for invalidating the contract.

In the event that the debtor failed to exercise the right to elect, the creditor may choose to which
among the debts the payment is applied as in the case at bar. It is noteworthy that after the sale of the
foreclosed properties at the public auction, Lorenze Realty failed to manifest its preference as to which
among the obligations that were all due the proceeds of the sale should be applied. Its silence can be
construed as acquiescence to China Bank's application of the payment first to the interest and penalties
and the remainder to the principal which is sanctioned by Article 1253 of the New Civil Code which
provides that:

Art. 1253. If the debt produces interest, payment of the principal shall not be deemed to have
been made until the interests have been covered.
 That they assume that the obligation is fully satisfied by the sale of the securities does not hold
any water. Nowhere in our statutes and jurisprudence do they provide that the sale of the collaterals
constituted as security of the obligation results in the extinguishment of the obligation. The rights and
obligations of parties are governed by the terms and conditions of the contract and not by assumptions
and presuppositions of the parties. The amount of their entire liability should be computed on the basis of
the rate of interest as imposed by the CA minus the proceeds of the sale of the foreclosed properties in
public auction.